30 Days of Biographies:
Cassius Astrologus
Original images via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Before the recent invention of the telescope in Natalis, astronomy in Realmgard was a more imprecise science that it was since become. Nevertheless, astronomy was a major field of study, due to in part to the belief that the stars affected mortal affairs. While this period laid the foundation for modern Realmgardian astronomy, much of the specific mechanics, particularly the movement of the stars, sun, and Terrace itself, are now known to be obsolete now that more precise observation and calculation are possible following new technological innovations.
Among the most famous ancient astronomers in Realmgard is Cassius Astrologus, a Archipelagian scholar who ultimately settled in Natalis during the period of the Eleven Empire. His most significant contribution to Realmgardian scholarship, even centuries later, is compiling and codifying the current system of constellations visible from the northern hemisphere of Terrace. Cassius also refined the current Realmgardian zodiac, which are still used as the star-signs to each month of the calendar.
While numerous new constellations have since been described, especially as Realmgardians explore more of Terrace’s southern hemisphere — which Cassius was unable to observe during his own lifetime — the ancient constellations first described by Cassius are still in use.
Due to there being little distinction between astronomy and astrology during the Imperial period, Cassius was often viewed as a fortuneteller by his contemporaries, though Cassius himself put little stock in horoscopes and held that the stars had minimal, if any, affect on mortal affairs, holding that the operations of the gods were too inscrutable and beyond mortal understanding to be attributable to the stars.
Cassius is also famous for attempting to measure the circumference of Terrace using nothing more than a stick to extrapolate from the length of the shadows being cast. Although his final estimate was slightly off — complicated somewhat by the ancient units of measurement being somewhat inconsistent — his methodology was sound and his calculations are held up as a remarkable mathematical feat, considering the simplicity of the tools he used.
Although he is best known for his astronomical observations — correctly predicting the re-occurrence of eclipses and comments — Cassius’ studies were more wide-ranging. For his observations of octopuses in shallow coastal waters, he is sometimes credited as the father of marine biology.
The exact details of Cassius’ life beyond his scientific pursuits are obscure and the exact years of his birth, death, and arrival in Realmgard from Archipelago are not known. He is known to have married and had at least one child and there remain several families that claim to be able to trace their descent back to him, but these claims cannot be confirmed.
Although it most likely represents a later literary tradition stemming from authors making a moral, rhetorical point, Cassius is often portrayed as humble and a man of action rather than empty boasting. Despite this popular conception of Cassius as a humble, hardworking genius not fond of boasting about himself, later scholars have named numerous places throughout Realmgard and newly-discovered heavenly bodies in his honour.
Cassius Astrologus literally means something like “Cassius the Stargazer.” And that’s kinda-sorta a reference. Cassius Dio was a Roman historian and Ronnie James Dio had a song called Stargazer — technically, it was a Rainbow song, but Dio was the vocalist…
He’s not really based on any real ancient scientist, though the marine biology thing is a passing reference to Aristotle, and measuring the planet with a stick is based on Eratosthenes.
The, uh, the joke I like to make is that his final number was “bigger than a stick…”
Now, he should probably be an Elf (and so should some the other characters I’ve do biographies for), but I haven’t trusted myself to convincingly due the ears.
That’s a picture of Plato, which I mostly used because he was pointing up.
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